Dressed In Black
by Deepwallow
Summary: Arendelle receives a gift from the Southern Isles in the form of a new and efficient servant. But where do their loyalties lie, and whats their motivation? Elsanna, but not incest.


*****Deep sigh*** They did it. They actually managed to do it. Ladies and Gentlemen, I have actually gotten pulled into the tide that is the Frozen Fanfics. ***rubs face*** Oh jeez...**

**Well, here it is I suppose! My very own Frozen Fanfic after reading so many others I lost count! Wonderful!**

**Now, just to say this, this story is Elsanna, but not incest. Why? Because I can.**

**Also, here is a blanket disclaimer: I do not own, have never owned, and WILL never own any of the Frozen characters, places, etc. **

**As with everything I've ever written, Review and feedback is much appreciated!**

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><p>"But if he's only talking to dad, why do I have to get all dressed up? And wear these shoes?" Anna asked for the sixth or seventh time. She really couldn't keep track, especially wearing these accursed shoes. "They're too small!" She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting at her mother. The older woman, who not only looked very similar to the younger girl but was also dressed similarly, tried her hardest to conceal the smile threatening to overtake her face at her daughter's complaints. Evidently, she didn't do a good enough job, for the younger girl added "I can see you smirking!" to her miniature rant. Letting the smile finally come out, Queen Felicia looked over at Anna and chuckled softly.<p>

"Anna, please! You won't be in them for much longer! Your Father is discussing business with the King of the Southern Isles, and we are to meet them here before they leave! It's only proper etiquette and you know it." She explained patiently. Anna huffed, clearly irritated at such a logical counter. She was silent, fuming for a few second, before she turned to her mother again and wildly gestured with her arms.

"But _Mother!_ These shoes are so _uncomfortableI_ You can't even see them under my dress! I'm sure the Kind of the Southern Isles wouldn't mind if I took them off! I mean, the only way he'd see them is if he looked up my dress!" She argued. But then her mind caught up with her tongue and she blushed bright red. "Not-not that he ever w-would do that! Or that I would ever let him! I mean, that's so rude and… and terrible! He wouldn't do that, especially in front of Father! B-But he would never do it anyways, even without Father I mean, he is a _King_ and Kings act very, um, kingly, so-"

"Anna!" Her mother said, interrupting her daughter's ramble before it could progress further. Anna literally froze mid-word and glanced at her mother, smiling sheepishly and letting out a small chuckle.

"Sorry…" She said softly just as they hear the doors across the throne room open and two men come walking in, laughing. Queen Felicia instantly straightened her posture, looking every bit the queen she was as she gazed at the approaching men, a small smile curving her lips. Anna tried her best to match her mother, desperately ignoring her aching feet as she forced a smile on her face, hoping her expression gave nothing away.

She recognized her father, with his light brown hair, mixed with a slight hue of red, walking on the left, smiling. He wore his usual attire when addressing guests; a dark military outfit with a slender sword at his hip. His crown was missing, as expected, and he seemed completely at ease. Anna felt her heart warm at the sight of him, her smile becoming a little more genuine in his presence. Then her eyes trailed to the King of Arendelle's guest, King Richard.

His hair was so dark it seemed as black as night, slicked back in an aristocratic look. He had a beard too, well trimmed to help define a strong jaw and a slightly hawkish nose. His eyes were green, and seemed sharp and intelligent to Anna. He was dressed in a military uniform much like her father, only it was a light grey with gold embroidery. _He seems so… stern_ Anna decided as they approached. A small smile was on King Richard's face, but that only lessened the hardness of his features a little. Anna's father looked up at Anna and her mother, his smile widening as he quickened his pace to meet them, climbing up the slightly raised dais with ease. He took Felicia's hands in his own and placed a chaste kiss on her lips before turning and embracing Anna. Anna let out a small, happy hum before they separated and her father, King Andrew, turned back to his guest with his hand still on Anna's shoulder.

"I'm sure you remember my wife, Felicia, Richard?" He questioned. Richard, who had continued at his own pace, stood before them now. He turned his attention to the Queen, his smile widening slightly, as he put a fist over his heart and bowed slightly; the gesture of recognizing someone with high rank for the Southern Islanders. Anna's mother returned the gesture with a polite curtsey.

"How could I possibly forget? It isn't every day one meets someone with as much civility and as much fire as Queen Felicia." Richard said, standing up from his bow with just the hint of a smirk curing his small smile. Felicia only chuckled and shook her head.

"Please, Richard, just call me Felicia. You needn't be so formal." She insisted. Richard only nodded his head politely as her request before turning to Anna.

"Ah! Princess Anna, I presume. You look lovely, my dear child. You seem much more the princess than when I last visited." He complimented, bowing to Anna as well, but not as deeply. Anna couldn't help but blush as the praise as she tried her best curtsey, hoping to mimic her mother and hoping she didn't screw up.

"T-Thank you, King Richard." She said meekly, smiling a bit nervously at the rather intimidating man before her. She felt her father squeeze her shoulder in approval, and she relaxed slightly.

"Now then! You mentioned something about a surprise, Richard! I'm dying of curiosity to find out what you meant." Andrew said with a deep chuckle. Richard's smile widened and he nodded his head to Anna's father.

"Of course! I would hate to keep you in the dark." He stated before turning to face the doors on the other end of the room. "You may come in now!" He announced in a booming tone that practically hummed with authority and command. There were a few moments of silence as the Southern King's voice echoed in the long room before the door on the other end opened once more. Anna couldn't properly see the figure from this distance, so she leaned forward ever so slightly and strained her eyes to see who it was. Whomever had entered had long, blonde hair so light it was essentially platinum woven into a long braid. They were dressed in a sharp, black jacket buttoned up almost to the last button. A white shirt peeked out underneath the jacket, with the collar folded neatly out. Slim black pants and shiny black shoes completed the prim and proper look to this newcomer. Anna frowned though, realizing how… well, delicate this person seemed. It wasn't until the person drew even nearer that Anna let out a small gasp, a hand instinctively coming up to cover her mouth. This stranger was a _she!_ A similar, albeit softer, gasp from Anna's mother showed that she was stunned as well. And why wouldn't she be? As the now-apparent girl made her way up the dais, it was obvious she was simply _beautiful_. Her skin was a milky white color and absolutely flawless. Her eyes were large and an icy blue color, and Anna could see the attentiveness in those eyes as the girl looked up to King Richard with a relaxed but blank expression and an easy smile curving her pink lips. She put a fist to her heart and bowed low much like Richard had done before standing upright again. Richard smiled and pat the her on the shoulder before turning to Anna and the others again. "May I present Elsa, a trusty servant to the Westerguard family. As proof to our kingdoms' peace and trade, I want to give Elsa to you as your new butler." Richard said, looking Anna's father in the eyes.

Anna could see her father raise an eyebrow out of the corner of her eye, looking over Elsa curiously. "While I am… flattered at the proposal, I must admit I am confused as well. We have plenty of servants here in Arendelle. There's no need for you to sacrifice one of your own good servants..." He started, but Richard was already shaking his head, chuckling.

"I will not take no for an answer, Andrew. Elsa is loyal, efficient, and very willing to do this." Richard insisted. Elsa, who had stayed silent this whole time, now nodded and spoke. Anna's breath hitched slightly at the sound.

"What my Lord is saying is, indeed, true, your Highness. Lord Richard only wants to thank you for all the years of fortuitous trading and beneficial partnership by giving you one of his best to help you even further. When I heard that he was looking for a willing and able candidate, I volunteered myself." She assured. Her voice was so wonderously musical it was like chimes, and so soft it could make a feather jealous. Anna already couldn't get enough of it. Anna glanced at her father, who was obviously surprised and impressed at the strange but beautiful girl before him. He glanced at Anna's mother for a moment, and Anna could see some sort of silent conversation passed between the two before, sighing, he turned back to Richard and smiled.

"Very well. I humbly accept your offer, Richard. And I'm happy to have you with us, Elsa." He said, bowing slightly to Elsa, who returned the gesture with her own deep bow, smiling. Richard shared Elsa's smiled, nodding his satisfaction.

"Thank you, Richard. I know this does now make up for all that you've done, but it is the least I could do." He stated before looking at Elsa and placing one gloved hand on the slender girl's shoulder. "Take good care of these people, Elsa. Understand?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. Elsa's smile widened and she nodded.

"Of course, my Lord. I shall do my very best." She promised. Richard chuckled, patting her shoulder before dropping his hand.

"Well then. I'll go tell my escorts to unpack your things and bring them to the castle right away." He said, looking back to Richard and nodding. "I shall take my leave then. It was a pleasure seeing you again, Richard. I hope Esa serves you well." He said. Andrew bowed to Richard and smiled widely.

"I have no doubts she will." He responded with a chuckle before calling out, "Gerda!" Immediately, a slightly plump older woman dressed simply stepped away from the area she had been occupying at the wall. "Please take Elsa to an empty servant's room and show her around the castle. If she is to be a servant, we most definitely don't want her getting lost." He joked with a small chuckle. Gerda gave a short bow to all of them before motioning Elsa to follow. Elsa gave one last deep bow to the nobles, fist over her heart, before turning and following after the other woman with such grace and poise, she seemed a queen herself. Anna's eyes followed her all the way to the doors until the doors shut and she sighed softly in disappointment.

_Elsa…_

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><p>"Sounds like somebody's got a crush." Anna whirled on the blonde haired stable hand, a blush coloring her face despite her wishes.<p>

"Oh shut up, Kristoff! You didn't see her!" Anna argued, fuming as she crossed her arms over her chest, embarrassed. Kristoff only laughed, petting his large dog Sven as he looked up at Anna with a twinkle of amusement in his warm brown eyes. "She was so…" Anna bit her bottom lip, trying to think of a word to put to the astonishing sight of the girl she just met, "_Beautiful…_" She finally breathed, a wistful look coming to her eyes at the memory. "She was just so _perfect_, and I didn't even say one word to her. So prim and proper- and oh my gosh that outfit she was wearing! She seemed so masculine and yet so feminine. Do you think she ever wears dresses? What do you think she would look like in a dress? I'm sure it would be so beautiful. I'm sure anything she'd wear is beautiful…" Anna mused, but then stopped as she heard the barely contained laughter coming from her right. Looking over, she say Kristoff crouched low on the stable floor, a hand covering his mouth firmly and his other hand was clutching his side. Anna felt heat suffuse her face faster than she could blink before she stiffly walked over and pushed the tittering boy hard with her foot. Caught off balance, he fell to the dirty floor with a yelp, Sven happily hopping on top of him, thinking it was a game. "I don't see what's so funny." Anna said sharply, frowning when Kristoff managed to sit back up and grinned widely at her.

"It's just that you're so lovestruck and you haven't even _spoken_ to the girl yet!" He said, chuckling again and shaking his head. "How do you know she's nice? She could be a total witch and here you are, spouting about how great she is." He pointed out. Anna huffed, but her face did fall a bit at his words. What if Elsa _was_ a total witch? What if she was cold to Anna? Her expression back in the throne room _had_ been blank even if her lips were smiling. Anna honestly couldn't say anything about the other girl's demeanor except that Elsa had extremely good manners and was very formal with her father.

Seeing his friend's crestfallen face, Kristoff got up and dusted himself off before walking over and pulling Anna into a warm hug. "Hey now, she could be as nice as you think she is," He said, worry washing over his features, "I'm just stating the reality here. You- we- don't know much about this girl. While, yeah, she may be utterly breathtaking from your description, that doesn't mean her personality is just as good. I just don't want you to get hurt, ok?" He explained, hoping ANna understood his concern. Anna was silent, arms around him and gripping him tightly as she buried her face into his shoulder. He always smelled of horses, earth, and leather, a combination which never failed to calm Anna down when her thoughts were racing like they were now.

_He could be right, you know. Elsa could just be some perfectly carved statue made of ice. God, Anna, you hardly know the girl! You just met her today and you're already salivating over her like Sven!_ As if the big dog heard her thoughts, he bumped his head against her leg and whined. Anna smiled into Kristoff's shoulder before letting go as they held each other at arm's length. "I understand, Kristoff. Thanks for the concern." She said, smiling brilliantly at her best friend. Kristoff returned the smile with his own big, goofy grin.

"No problem. And hey!" He said, his eyes filling with mischief, "Who knows? Maybe she's into red-heads?" Anna promptly smacked him on the side of his head.

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><p>She sighed deeply the moment she was actually alone, sitting down on the edge of the relatively comfortable bed in her new chambers after taking off her jacket. True to command, that woman Gerda had shown her the whole castle. It was easy to memorize the layout of the castle, and once they returned to Elsa's room, she had been surprised to find all her things there. Luckily, no one had gone through anything, so Elsa was allowed to unpack it all herself. She sighed again, shutting her eyes for a brief moment before opening them again and scanning over her new living quarters. They were very nice, if a bit plain, but that must've been because no one had lived in this room for a while according to Gerda. It was tucked away in the very far corner of the servant quarters, so it came as no surprise that it was the least lived in. <em>It is interesting though. This castle is enormous. How do they operate with so few servants? <em>Elsa wondered. She had seen all the servants and, despite their number being much larger than the King Richard's employment, it still seemed small in comparison to the building itself. The royal family must not need as much waiting on to match the servant count. That or the servants were all _very_ efficient.

Elsa pushed that away for now though, instead getting to her feet and walking over to one of the chests that had previously contained her assortment of clothes. She opened the now empty chest and reached down to the bottom, searching with her nails lightly until they caught on a small, insignificant niche in the wood. Smiling softly to herself, she pushed down harder, wedging her nail in before curling her finger up and pulling. There was a soft creaking noise before the bottom of the chest popped, revealing a hidden space with a note resting inside. Glancing up at the door, Elsa quickly took the note out and replaced the fake wooden bottom, returning to the bed and seating herself comfortably before opening the note.

_Elsa,_

_You know exactly what to do. Find out everything you can about the Arendelle family. Gain their trust and don't reveal anything about your true intentions. Do whatever you think is necessary to avoid suspicion. Do not fail me._

As expected, it wasn't signed, but Elsa already knew its sender. She smiled faintly, crumpling up the note before frost began to cover it. Just as the frost completely sealed the note, Elsa heard a knock on her door. Eyes widening, she leapt up from the bed, crushing the brittle note in her hand before throwing the remains on the other side of the bed. _Who could that be at this hour?_ She wondered with a slight frown before smoothing out the wrinkles of her shirt and putting on her neutral mask as she strode to the door. Upon opening it, she was greeted by none other than the Princess of Arendelle herself, and judging by the way she kept fiddling with the fabric of her intricate green dress and biting her bottom lip, she was nervous. When Elsa opened the door, the girl jumped, almost as if she had not expected Elsa to actually answer. She also froze for a brief moment as Elsa appeared, but then unfroze just as quickly. Anna stood there sheepishly, shuffling on her feet as Elsa waited patiently for her to speak.

"Um… Hello…" She said softly, glancing up at Elsa and just as quickly glancing away. Elsa raised an eyebrow at the slightly shorter girl. What was the princess doing here? But then she realized the opportunity.

_Gain their trust._

Elsa put on one of her easy smiles, and the other girl blinked. "Hello, Princess Anna. Was there something you required of me?" She inquired, a little curious to the other girl's sudden appearance. Anna fidgeted slightly, blushing before taking in a deep breath and speaking in a rush.

"I, uh, just wanted to see you. I mean, I wanted to see how you were doing. Not just you. Er, I mean I did. Um- That is I wanted to m-make sure you were all settled in because I figured 'Oh! It must be really scary to go to a new place and not know anyone!' But then I thought, 'Anna, you shouldn't bother this girl! It's late and that's rude!' But my feet kind of took over and I came here to see you." Here her blush deepened until she was almost as red as her hair, and she continued before Elsa could even put a single word in. "And sorry, I'm rambling. You must think I'm really annoying, especially coming to see you this late. I just really wanted to make sure you were ok. It's kind of weird, huh? We're sort of weird. Er, I mean I'm weird. You're really gorgeous… Wait, what?" She clamped her mouth shut, a hand flying up to cover her mouth in embarrassment. Elsa's head was reeling, trying to decipher all that Anna just splurted. She managed to hear "settled in," "see you," "weird," and "gorgeous." Shaking her head in slight amusement, Elsa's smile widened very slightly at the strange Princess before her.

"It's quite alright, Princess Anna. Gerda showed me the castle, and I am perfectly fine. I appreciate your concern over my well being, but I assure you that I'm alright." She said. Anna glanced up at her, still blushing, before she let out a long sigh.

"Sorry. I tend to ramble. A lot." She added with a nervous giggle. "And, um, you can just call me Anna. All the other servants do." Elsa blinked in faint surprise, but her face revealed nothing. Obviously, the royal family here was very relaxed around the servants. Perfect.

Keeping her smile on, Elsa, bowed slightly. "As you wish, Anna." She said before standing once more. Anna gulped slightly, a blush still coloring her face as she looked away, fiddling with her hands nervously. Elsa waited again for her to speak first.

"Uh… Well, I'm glad you're- you're ok. I'll just," She pointed off down the hall, "I'll just go now. Goodnight!" She said, waving her hand before all but fleeing down the hallway and out of sight. Elsa watched her go with a raised eyebrow but gently shut the door and went back to her bed. She couldn't help but chuckle at the strange antics of Arendelle's princess, and her own luck at the girl's apparent fascination with Elsa herself.

_Well, it seems my job just got a bit easier._


End file.
